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Sunday, October 20, 2013

One of the major
challenges to French cooking I have found here in America is the fact that
dairy products that are unpasteurized are not allowed. I grew up on unpasteurized milk, cream and
all sorts of “not allowed by the FDA” products, like so many other millions of
people around the world and have never had a problem. Raw dairy builds the immune system up like
crazy, making for strong bones and a general healthy outlook.

So here are the best dairy products I could
come up with so far, if you want to cook like a true French person (as much as
we can on this side of the world):

From left to
right:

“Natural
by Nature” pasteurized heavy cream.
Unlike most cream, this one IS NOT ultra-pasteurized, which means it is
boiled only once, and not at very high temperature, which makes for a much more
stable and thicker product.

True
whole milk en bouteille de verre, also
by “Natural by Nature”, which is sold at Whole Foods Market. It is so thick that you can collect up to 2
tablespoons of cream at the top of the bottle when you open it.

An excellent option for butters are the French ones from Poitou, a region
suited to the rearing of goats. All the
dairy from this part of France is extra rich and creamy.This “Sèvre Belle” is slightly salted.Ideal for the baguette and petit noir of the
morning.

Whenever I can, I buy a 1-pound roll of salted and unsalted butter at my
local Farmers Market.The one underneath
the French butter comes from an Amish farm in Wisconsin from grass-fed
cows.You can actually taste the
difference.

For a bit more flavor, especially for ice-cream or a creamy
dessert, nothing beats goat’s milk (see the cream leftover inside the bottle).Also available at Whole Foods.

The Vermont Creamery makes an excellent crème fraîche, one of the
staples of French cooking. Their cheeses
are also quite imaginative and creamy.

A very good recipe to use two of the products above is a
panna-cotta. I suggest using the goat’s
milk for the vanilla portion and the whole cow’s milk for the chocolate one. It can be done with one or both flavours, and
although it may seem lengthy to prepare, the majority of time required is for
refrigeration. The dessert can be made
up to two days ahead and will keep for another two in the fridge. It is an ideal end for a rather light dinner,
of fish for example, as it tends to be filling.
The measurements are good for 4 servings.

La panna-cotta au chocolat, vainille
e crème de violette:

Ingredients for the vainille et crème de
violette panna-cotta:

3 Tbsp. cold water

2 ¼ tsp. unflavoured gelatin

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup half and half (combine half cup of cream and half of milk from
“Natural by Nature” brand)

½ cup sugar

3 Tbsp. crème de violette liqueur

¼Tahitian vanilla bean, scraped

Pinch of salt

Ingredients
for the chocolate panna-cotta:

1 ¾ cups heavy whipping cream

1 ¼ tsp. unflavoured gelatin

2 Tbsp. sugar

Pinch of salt

2 ounces finely chopped quality dark chocolate, 70% cacao

For
the whipped cream topping:

¾ heavy whipping cream

2 Tbsp crème de violette liqueur

A drop or two of violet food colouring

Small pieces of chocolate for decorating

Preparationfor the
vainille et crème de violette panna-cotta:

Pour the cold water into a small bowl and sprinkle with the gelatin.

In a medium saucepan, heat the
cream, half and half, sugar, lavender and salt over medium heat until the sugar
has completely dissolved and the mixture comes to a boil, about 5 minutes.

Remove the saucepan from the
heat and pour the mixture through a fine strainer and into a measuring cup with
a spout. Stir in the crème de violette
and the vanilla seeds, followed by the gelatin mixture, stirring until the
gelatin has completely dissolved.

Divide among 4 individual
serving glasses and bring to room temperature, then place on a flat surface in
the fridge and refrigerate overnight.Preparation
for the chocolate panna-cotta:

Once the vanilla layer has been set, it’s time to make the chocolate
one.

Pour ¼ cup of the whipping
cream into a small heatproof bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Let sit for 10 minutes. Place the bowl into a larger one with hot
water and stir mixture until the gelatin has completely dissolved.

In a medium saucepan over
medium heat, bring the remaining cream, sugar and salt just to a boil and
remove promptly from the heat. Whisk the
chocolate until completely incorporated and smooth.

Add the gelatin mixture until
well combined, pour it through a fine strainer and into a measuring cup with a
spout. Let sit until it reaches room temperature,
stirring occasionally.

Divide among the chilled
vanilla-crème de violette panna-cotta layered glasses, cover with plastic wrap
and let chill in the refrigerator overnight.To
prepare the whipped cream topping:

Make this 2 hours before serving. Add the crème de violette liqueur to the
cream, stir and let sit in the refrigerator, covered, for at least 1 hour – the
longer it sits, the better the flavor.

Chill a mixing bowl and the
metal whisk/s to be used to beat the cream for 15 minutes prior to mixing. Add the cream with a drop or two of colouring
and beat until it forms a soft peak.

Top each dessert with a
dollop of cream and a piece or two of dark chocolate.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

I have bought
pastries at My French Café ever
since my good friend David Moore recommended it on his group Wine Lovers & Adventurers. They are, without doubt, one of
the best options for French patisseries in Central Florida. Owners Avy and Morgane Bendavid open their
venture last fall, but they never imagined the success they’re enjoying.

This past
weekend I decided to eat in and tried their “Little France” crêpe – typical
ham, cheese and béchamel. It was tasty
and very filling; however, I was disappointed.
It was an American crêpe, not a French one, made too thick and served
with a salad. In France, the batter
would have been cooked into an extra thin crêpe, and the filling would have
been enough but not overpowering like this one was.

The
macaroons however, are spectacular. Two
round, fluffy meringue sides, about 2” in diameter. There is a pistachio-blackcurrant version
with raspberries, crème chantilly and a solid chocolate ganache center. All the macaroons come with a vial of sauce –
in this case blackcurrant – to be dispensed over the top or even inside of the
macaroon, to counter-balance the sweetness.
If there ever was a perfect balance of flavours, this macaroon
exemplifies it beautifully.

My French Café is the only place in Orlando so far where I could
find the classic French Opera cake. Rich
and with the typical accented taste of coffee, it pairs wonderfully with a
strong espresso or a glass of brandy.

The
Mille-feuille is a cake best eaten just an hour or two after it is made. My
French Cafécan make it by
special order in big size to impress your guests after an elegant dinner.

There
is also the Paris Brest, a dessert created in honor of the cycle race that it
is named after. It consists of a wheel-shaped
pate choux pastry filled with almond cream and topped with slivered
almonds. Especially fulfilling at tea
time.

They also do
catering and can make your favorite cake in larger sizes. Just imagine the ohs and ahs
from your friends when it’s time for dessert!

Monday, September 16, 2013

As a parody to Julia Child’s scholarly
written work Mastering the art of French
cooking, Ann Mah has written her own story of life in France, one of an
American diplomat’s wife that makes me dream of what could have been for me,
had my parents not died when they did and I’d achieved that dream of becoming a
diplomat myself. The dream of living in
Paris, or even in France for that matter, is an elusive one for most of us, yet
when one really wants it, anything that can get you closer to it is worth holding
on to.

Ann Mah’s
story is that element (read her blog here). Set in Paris,
with some travels within France – the Auvergne, Burgundy, Provence, Alsace -
that she mainly took to overcome a year of solitude when her husband was posted
to Iraq during his then current assignment in Paris. They had another 2 years after that in the
City of Light, which they used productively to buy their own pièd-a-terre,
while indulging in French food and culture.

This is a
very lovely memoir with a recipe typical of the region written about at the end
of each chapter. To me, the best one is
that of aligot, which sadly I cannot
make at home as the main ingredient, a cheese curd by the name of tome fraîche,
is not found in the US; but one to go on my bucket list of things to try when
visiting France. The story of her visit
to Aveyron is also the crown jewel of the book, providing a cozy, comforting
end to a year of stories as an ex-pat foodie in France.

Being an
inveterate Francophile myself, and currently trending the way Parisians cook
and live, I found her recipe for bavette
aux échalotes a nice take on my entrecôte
Vilette (see my recipe here). The main difference is the cut of meat
used. Whereas for entrecôte one would use ribsteak, for the bavette one uses skirt; which is a thin, ratherfibrous cut. It
makes for an incredibly tasty piece of meat.
You may accompany it with the ubiquitous frites (recipe also here), a fresh salad or even some warm legumes. Of course when in France, serve it with aligot.
This recipe serves 2.

Bavette
aux échalotes:

Ingredients:

1 skirt or
hanger steak, about 12 oz. trimmed of fat and patted dry

Salt and
pepper

1 Tbsp.
sunflower oil

Sauce:

2 Tbsp.
unsalted butter, divided

4 large
minced shallots

1 ½ Tbsp.
red wine vinegar

Sprig of
fresh thyme

½ cup beef
stock

Preparation:

Trim the
steak of any excess fat and season it with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high
heat. It must be sizzling hot. Place the steak in the pan and cook for 2
minutes, until the underside is seared and browned. Turn the steak over and cook the other side
for about 50 seconds. Bavette is thin
cut, so it cooks quite fast. The best
way to eat this dish is medium-rare, so do not overcook! Transfer the beef to a warm plate and cover
loosely with foil in order to keep it warm.

To make
the sauce, heat 1 Tbsp. of the butter in the same skillet used for the
steak. Add the shallots and sauté over
medium heat for 7 minutes. Add the red
wine vinegar, thyme and beef stock; bring to a boil. Cover and cook until the shallots have
softened and the liquid has almost disappeared.
Swirl in the remaining Tbsp. of butter and add any juices released from
the meat. Taste the sauce and adjust the
seasoning, adding a few drops of vinegar if needed.

Slice
the steak against the grain into thin strips.
Serve with the shallots spooned on top.

Friday, September 6, 2013

The French are the epitome of chic. In fact, one could argue that they are the
ones that are solely responsible for the creation of all things pleasurable in
life. You don’t think so? Let’s run by some of them: gourmet cuisine,
world’s most distinguished fashion houses, beauté (which ranges from perfume to
cosmetics), philosophy, bistros and sidewalk cafés, and general joie de vivre.

French women in particular have always interested me. Far and wide, they are the only ones that
seem to have it all under control – beauty, fitness, looking gorgeous, eating
like queens yet staying slim, managing children, an active sex life, a career,
housekeeping… the list goes on. Throughout my life, I have
always wanted to emulate that feeling of total control I see in French women. The main reason is because I find that being
in control of everything I do in my life gives me peace of mind. I have found, satisfying our
own and our loved ones’ needs is what life is really all about.

While not affirming that French women are always in full control of their
particular situations (no one can do that, not even the French), they personify
the one culture that most closely comes to this ideal.

Turquoise is a colour not usually worn by Christine Lagarde, yetwith proper foulard, she looksmagnificient

Apparently, Ms. Baronne used to be fat and frumpy in her 20’s, but then she discovered la vie en rose de les Français and set out to a discipline of general life improvement.This particular book is written for women in their 60’s and older; and although I am in my early 40’s, I can only hope that if I am lucky enough to reach that age, I do so in my fittest possible way, looking and feeling great, and embracing life with gusto. There are two French women mentioned in this book that have
caught my attention: IMF Director and
ex-Minister of Finance Christine Lagarde, and France ex-Minister of Justice,
Muslim Rachida Dati. These are both
beautiful, stylish, powerful women who do not compromise and yet are able to
leave their own mark of distinction in their path. I have watched Christine Lagarde on
television a few times, but the one that most strikes my memory was during an
interview with Fareed Zakaria on his program GPS for CNN, when she was still France’s Finance Minister. She does not colour her hair, yet her gray
locks are always perfectly coiffed in a short bobby fringe. She has a minimalist style, which I find I am
favouring as well as I age, always dressed in high quality smart suits in
neutral colours. She wears her wrinkles
with ease and pride, and looks great and fit. A closer look at her personal life, I found she is a consummate swimmer, rarely drinks wine nowadays (although she's no teetotaler by any means), and favours vegetarian cuisine.

Rachida Dati has a more shaken story. The daughter of impoverish Algerian immigrants,
she has had some slips (especially of the tongue, confusing fellatio with inflation on national television, oops!), but as a woman of style I
find really no other like her within the public personalities of France in these day and age, not even Carla Bruni (with whom she is said to have had a few
high-strung encounters). Ms. Dati looks
the classic French modern woman. Her
strong personality comes through even in photographs. She is not only beautiful but looks sexy, and
in her mid-forties is my favourite French chic lady to emulate. She runs 1 1/2 hours several times a week to keep fit and enjoys champagne, caviar and jellewery. Certainly a girl's best friends. I can imagine her on Sundays, for instance, relaxing at home with several French newspapers, breakfasting on a Bellini, some exotic fruits, a croissant and a strong cup of coffee. But Rachida Dati is a hard-working, modern French woman, and during the week, even at intervals, nothing would preclude her from indulging in a nice kir while hard at work.

For your own version of a kir, just pour 3/4 glass of white burgundy wine and add 1 1/2 Tbsp. of crème de cassis liqueur. Mix and garnish with a lemon twist. Voilá a typical French cocktail for any time "just because", and even if, like me, you are hard at work.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Everyday lunch
for a Parisian is, again, a practical affair.
Just like I remember from “the Paris of South America” (i.e. Buenos
Aires), most of the shops and offices allow for a 2-hour lunch break during
which to recharge and have a simple but proper meal. We should adopt this in North America too. I think it will provide for less aggressive
teenagers and stronger families.

But going back to
the theme in question, a very common lunch is that of entrecôte and pommes
frites. In Argentina we add a salad of
lettuce and tomato to this, and a good glass of red wine. I make mine whenever I feel the need for a
nice juicy steak, and I cook it in-between saignant
and à point. This of course, is pure preference, but as I
immerse myself in the ways of proper eating, I find there is something to be
said about meat eaten almost raw, and that is, that carnivores appreciate (or
at least should appreciate) the value of raw meat. A kind of going back to the source, in a way.

So when I’m ready for my “raw” fix, I buy
the best entrecôte I can find and pair it with a cool glass of Beaujolais
“Fleurie” (good to break all that cholesterol!). I follow the recipe from “Culinaria – France”.

Entrecôte Villette:

Ingredients for 1
serving:

1 entrecôte (ribsteak), weighing
about 10 to 12oz. and no more than ¾” thick

5 shallots

6 ½ Tbsp. unsalted butter

Salt and freshly ground
pepper

1 tsp. finely chopped flat
leaf parsley

Lemon juice

Fleur de sel

Preparation:

Pepper the meat,
cover and allow it to rest for 2 hours.

Peel and finely
chop the shallots, then heat a third of the butter and brown the lightly salted
entrecôte on each side for a short time.
Remove from the pan and keep warm.
Melt the remaining butter, add the shallots and brown for 2 minutes.

Serve the meat on a warm plate, pour on the
shallots and butter, sprinkle with parsley and add a few drops of lemon
juice. Then add the fleur de sel and
freshly ground pepper to taste. Serve
with French fries.

For the “pommes
frites”:

This method will
yield you crisp, golden fries with a soft center. You will need 1 medium mealy potato, cut into
¼” strips. Once cut, submerge in water
for about 15’. In the meantime, heat
either sunflower or grapeseed oil up to 300F (use a thermometer).

Get the potato
slices out of the water and dry with a tea-towel. Once the oil is hot, dip them for 4 minutes. Take them out and place on a paper towel.

Bring the temperature of the oil down to
130F and dip the fries again for another 4 minutes. Take them out and place on a paper towel
again to get rid of the extra oil.
Sprinkle with fleur de sel and serve immediately.

When I am at the
office, I often bring a Croque Monsieur
for lunch. In Argentina we know this as
“sandwich mixto”, and it is served at all hours in any confitería. Here’s the
simple way to make it:

Croque Monsieur:

Ingredients:

2 slices of pain de mie,
without the crusts

1 tsp. unsalted butter

½ slice of cooked ham

2 Tbsp. finely grated Comté
cheese

Preparation:

Thinly spread the butter onto both sides
of the bread. Lay the ham on one slice
and sprinkle on the finely grated cheese.
Cover with the second slice of buttered bread. Preheat the broiler. First broil on one side, then the other.

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Simply and efficiently. Just a café au lait, or a straight espresso for some, taken at the counter of their favorite spot on their way to work, along with a croissant or a slice of baguette with creamy butter (made with true unpasteurized cream yes!) and very good preserves. In this succinct version of a breakfast, we have 3 elements worth contemplating. For starters, the coffee.

Most of the coffee drank in France is from the very strong, robusta variety, which hails from Ethiopia. This is a truly strong roast. If you live outside of Paris (or even outside of France as is my case), you may experience this very effective pick me up with Lavazza’s Crema e Gusto espresso roast, which is made of a blend of 70% robusta beans.

It is the ideal blend to be brewed in the typical French press cafetière.

The Bodum Chambord French press brews2 to 3 cups of coffee.

This
particular way of starting the day reminds me very much of the confiterías in
Buenos Aires – which for a very good reason is called “the Paris of South
America” – serving “le petit noir” (as it is known in Paris) or a “café con
leche”, along with a “medialuna” (our croissant), a great antidote against the
cold mornings of the porteños.

This more relaxed version of the Paris breakfast, along with
a glass of grapefruit juice, is more of the weekends

Croissants and baguettes in Paris are one
of the quintessential trademarks of the city.
Paris has this culture du pain,
and hundreds of different ones are made in its local boulangeries. I have found some very good croissants in
Orlando at a place called Croissant
Gourmet, in Winter Park. Their
croissants are double the size of the ones from Paris or Buenos Aires, and the
best ones are the almond croissants.
Truly scrumptious and fulfilling, they leave one with no need for
sustenance until dinner. For plain,
scrumptiously fluffy croissants, Rosa at the Windermere Farmers Market has the best ones I’ve managed to find so
far. You can get her croissants,
excellent sourdough boules, baguettes with kalamata olives et al, every Friday
from 9:00 to 14:00 hrs.

Rosa’s
baguette with kalamata olives is the perfect

complement to home-marinated chèvre.

Best almond croissants in Orlando

My other local good place for French patisseries
and breads is My French Café, where
plain croissants are a bit more normal in size, yet are crispy golden brown on
the outside and fluffy on the inside. I
love these with some salted butter and very good preserves, either from Bonne Mamman, Hédiard or some extra
special Confiture à la Ancienne. I managed to find one online cooked in
cauldron from The Frenchy Bee

The baguette is the Parisian bread par
excellence, and people generally buy 1 every day, sometimes queuing in front of
their favorite boulangerie for the prized loaf.
A very good baguette should be crispy and golden on the outside, with an
interior that is cream in colour and soft.
French bread tastes good because it is fresh, made every day, and
contains no preservatives. I am always appalled
by how long a loaf of bread lasts here in the USA, making for less than
tolerable flavor and a true abortion of the good principles of
bread-making. In France, it is illegal
to use preservatives in the bread or dairy (or anything for that matter); hence
products last less, but had incredible flavor and natural properties.

One the
best boulangeries in Paris are those of Jean-Luc
Poujauran (which now caters exclusively to high end restaurants), and that
of the Poilâne family. The latter now ships breads directly to the
United States. If one is willing to pay,
Poilânewill send some very
expensive, although very fresh bread right to your door by next day air.

After
a fulfilling, yet not so heavy, breakfast, Parisians grab their écharpes,
fasten their trench coats, and head on to work.
No snacking till lunch time.

Saturday, August 3, 2013

The
gastronomy of France has always delighted and intrigued me at the same
time. For a country that is as vast as
it is interesting in this way, I thought about embarking on a deep study of
each of its regions, as the only possible way to get immersed in the spirit of
the true French cuisine, wine industry and hospitality in general. (It’s a hard
job, but somebody’s gotta do it!).

The
French are a passionate people. They
feel strongly about almost everything, from politics to fashion, and food is no
exception. One can be invited to dinner
at someone’s house and the topic of conversation, during the whole soireé,
would be the food eaten that evening. Is
the wine appropriate for the cheeses served?
What about the bread and how it paired with the entreé? Should the dessert have been lighter or
heavier? These are all questions that
the true gourmets – and gourmands too, why not? – ask themselves all the time,
and to which they all enjoy providing different, and more refined answers every
time they’re pondered.

The best
place to start a tour of gastronomic France seems to me none other than its
capital itself and the region immediately surrounding it. Paris, the City of Light, of lovers,
passions, luxury, splendid architecture, the city I aspire to move to one day,
is the first focal point for my gourmet adventure.

Paris is
an ancient city. In it one can find the
marks of all the different times the city has lived through, ever since it was
first conquered by the Romans in 52 BC.
When the Parisii (the first inhabitants of Paris) lived in it the city
was called Lutetia.

The
Parisii were Gallic people who lived in the area known today as the Ile de la
Cité. They were hunters and used the
Seine river for trade and exchange.
After the Roman Empire conquered the land, Lutetia’s outlook was forged
as a true Roman city with public baths and a forum. Christianity took over the land when king
Clovis, the first of the Merovingian kings, converted to the religion. Thus the pagan ways of the Parisii were
eliminated. I first came accross
Lutetia’s name in a fragance immortalized by parfumier Houbigant that came out
in the 80’s - Lutèce. Its advert at the
time read “the perfume for days of gold
and sapphire nights”. I find there
is no better way to exemplify the essence of Paris.

The
paradox of Paris:

For
all that it is consumed in it and all that the city turns out gastronomically speaking,
Paris produces nothing (Restaurants of
Paris, Knopf guides, 1994, 52). The
city however, receives produce and ingredients from all over the world, which
are then sold in hundreds of markets throughout. Rungis, the biggest market in the world and
precursor to the old Les Halles, is the major wholesale supplier for Paris’
many restaurants and individual sellers.
One can only buy at Rungis with a special business license, but anyone
can go and watch. Later one can stop at
one of its many excellent restaurants for a truly gourmet repàs.

Just like
Rachel Khoo says in the introduction to her series “The Little Paris Kitchen”,
the world generally finds French cuisine as difficult and fussy to prepare,
something to be considered only for special occasions. Yet Parisians eat very simple, uncomplicated
food day in and day out. Long are the
days of the 20 course meals in places like Le Procope or L’Tour d’Argent of
yesteryear.

As I
immerse myself in the local discovery of the gastronomic Parisian culture, I
intend to live like a Parisian where I currently reside in Orlando.If nothing else, just to use it as a
preparation for my first visit to Paris in the near future.Join me in my next post to see how a Parisian
would start her day.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Chocolate is my
perdition. If I could eat some every
day, I would. Sadly, I have come to
realize that after turning 40, it adds to my waistline tremendously if I have
it for a few days in a row. However, I
do try and have some every week. These
days there are tons of mysteries – my other favourite genre after food writing
– that are set in the gastronomic field and include recipes. My latest discovery are the Regency mysteries starring Lady Arianna
Hadley and Lord Alessandro Saybrook, penned by Andrea Penrose (which I briefly mentioned here)

I came upon these series browsing at my
local Barnes & Noble, and after reading the blurb of the books, I instantly
came to like them. The first
installment, entitled Sweet Revenge,
introduces the reader to both characters as the golden couple of future
adventures to come. Arianna, disguised
as a Chef inside the kitchen of a prominent society lady, is seeking revenge
from the injustices done to her father, the late Lord Hadley, who was forced into
exile after a dubious gambling scheme in England. Her plans appear thwarted, to say the least,
when the Prince Regent of England succumbs during dinner after tasting one of
Arianna’s chocolate creations.

It is here when
war hero Lord Alessandro De Quincy, the Earl of Saybrook is called to investigate
under a special service to the Crown. The
pair run into quite a scheme, similar to what is known as the South Sea Bubble,
which was, quite literally, the first big financial meltdown of the world.

There are several books and online
resources about the South Sea Bubble so I will not go into detail here. A website I found quite informative is http://www.thebubblebubble.com/south-sea-bubble
by economic analyst Jesse Colombo. Suffice
it to say that the scheme came into being after the war of Spanish Succession,
where Britain was granted exclusive trading rights with the Spanish colonies in
America and the West Indies. The South
Sea Company was created to assume Britain’s war debt, and almost everybody in
the country bought stock into it, on the premise of outstanding returns based
on the (expected?) existence of innumerable amounts of gold and silver in the
colonies.

A stock certificate from the South Sea Company

Of course, such
existences were grossly overrepresented, and when the British government just
could not hold their finances together any longer, the bubble popped and stock
prices plummeted out of control. The
South Sea Bubble holds great historical significance as a case study into the
movement of the financial markets and the principle of greed. Andrea Penrose’s novel, although a cozy
mystery, is also a scientific book with thorough research of the subject.

The other part of
the book that is of much interest to me is the chocolate trivia and recipes
that precede each chapter. You see,
Alessandro De Quincy had a Spanish grandmother, not only that, but one who
loved chocolate so much she kept a diary about it, full of recipes and history. Since the Prince Regent appeared to have been
poisoned by chocolate, Lord Saybrook is the only one that has true knowledge of
the new product, hence to making him the ideal candidate to investigate the
crime.

Of the 25 recipes
offered, so far I have selected 2 which have left me very fauvorably impressed.
The first one is a cake, very rich, and goes fantastic with a strong
demi-tasse accompanied by a liqueur. It
uses spelt flour, a grain from antiquity.
It is this ingredient that gives it a unique rusticity.

Stir together
boiling hot water, espresso powder, vanilla and baking soda in a bowl, then add
dates, mashing lightly with a fork. Soak
until liquid cools to room temperature – about 10 minutes.

Put oven rack in
the middle position and preheat oven to 350F.
Butter a 9” springform pan, then lightly dust with cocoa powder,
knocking out the excess.

The batter before going into the oven

Whisk together
spelt flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in another bowl. Beat together butter and brown sugar with an
electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until just
combined. Beat in the date mixture
(batter will look curdled), then reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, a
bit at a time, mixing until just combined.

Spoon batter into the springform pan,
smoothing top, and bake until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out
clean, about 45 to 50 minutes. Cool cake
in pan on a rack 5 minutes, then remove side of pan and cool it on rack. When almost cool, sprinkle with cocoa
powder. Serve warm or at room
temperature with a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream.

The second recipe
is for a delicious mousse with an Asian twist.
It is as simple as it is dense.

Mocha Mousse with
Sichuan Peppercorns

Ingredients for 4
servings:

¼ tsp Sichuan peppercorns

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 ½ tsp ground coffee
beans

4 oz 70% cacao bittersweet
chocolate, chopped

3 large egg whites

1 Tbsp sugar

Whipped cream for garnish

Preparation:

Grind the
peppercorns with mortar and pestle.
Bring cream, coffee and pepper to a simmer in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and let steep, covered, for
30 minutes. Strain liquid through a fine
mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing on solids.

Melt the
chocolate in a large bowl. Stir in the
cream. Let cool slightly.

Beat the egg
whites with the sugar using an electric mixer until they just hold off stiff
peaks. Fold into the chocolate mixture
gently but thoroughly. Spoon the mousse
into pots or glasses and chill at least 3 hours. Serve with a dollop of sweetened whipped
cream.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Who can resist a restaurant by the name of The Ravenous Pig? First of all, anything pig perks up my attention. Maybe it is the fact that when I converted to Islam I was told pig was a big no-no. I tried to not have it and succeeded for about 18 months, and then… plunged into it like a savage.

I learnt about this restaurant while volunteering at a local greenhouse that supplies their organically grown produce. Chef-owners James and Julie Petrakis are firm believers in the green movement that Central Florida is experiencing and want nothing but the best for their restaurant. This translates into greens that can be eaten right off the root, since they are grown on irrigated towers that avoid the plants from actually being in contact with the earth. Literally, they grow on air.

This restaurant is in the
heart of Winter Park, the chicest district in Orlando, Florida. One can almost drive by it without noticing
it – and that would be a pity. It has a
few tables outside but I recommend inside sitting. The ambience is very lively, modern where it
has to be, but also sleek and sophisticated.
There is a bar area and 3 small dining rooms. I sat in the middle section when I went, and
was immediately and was always waited on with timely and undivided attention. The servers will always ask about drinks you
may want to start your meal with (as they are very keen on cocktails in this restaurant).
I ordered The Ravenous Pig Old-Fashioned, a classic old-fashioned but infused
with bacon. It had the crunchiest,
perfectly shaped bacon slice on top, which gave the drink just the right amount
of flavour. It was excellent.

For those days when we just want to get drunk and hug our blues, I recommend the Ginger in the Rye, a smoky, highly complex cocktail that will carry you over anything. It is made with Rittenhouse Rye whiskey, Cynar aperitif, ginger liqueur and Dolin French vermouth. The ingredients are poured over a block of ice the lasts forever, so it will not taste watered down, not even as you finish it. The mint garnish provides a note of freshness. Drinking this cocktail is like smoking a robust Cuban cigar.

As my starter I tried the House-madeCharcuterie and Artisan Cheese platter. It seemed to me the best way to honour the
nature of the place, as well as its intent of focusing on gastro-pub cuisine. What exactly is gastro-pub cuisine? Basically, the concept entails bringing pub
fare into a more sophisticated experience.
No other course could be as representative of the concept as this
one. It came beautifully presented on a
walnut chopboard, and it included a jar of pickled vegetables, a chicken foie
gras topped with chocolate bits, two of the thinnest sliced salumis –
sopressata and tartufo, a truffled terrine, rustic toasted bread, a slice of
sheep’s cheese from Wisconsin and Dijon mustard. Each bite was a delicacy to be savoured, and
the perfect food to linger on with a group of friends on an informal outing.

Another one of their traits was the Umami “Bloody
Mary” Oyster Trio, composed of three New England oysters in a sort of di-structured Bloody Mary – one with vodka and celery, the other with a hint of spicy tomato
and the last one with Worcestershire sauce (this last one my favorite). We chose champagne as the drink, and a basket
of deliciously warm and very cheesy Gruyère
biscuits with smoked sea salt butter to accompany it.

A fulfilling, yet light lunch potage, the Tomato Soup is much more than the concept we might be accustomed to for this dish. Made with seasonal, organic heirloom tomatoes, it is both warm and cool, as the dish in itself is served warm, and is topped with a cool basil crème fraîche. Whole cherry tomatoes of all colours and green tomato crostini provide the incipient mixture of flavours from the garden. I could have this every day.

Last but not least, dessert
came in the form of a what I would call a hint of a custard; a Zellwood sweet corn panna cotta, elderflower
strawberries and Earl Grey twille.
It was as light as a plume, making for the end of a pub experience that
carried none of the heaviness usually associated with it.

If one is not as light as one would hope after the main course (a probable feeling), one can always order The Sweets Board, an assortment of home-made salted caramels, raspberry marshmallows and chocolate chip cookies made with beurre noisette. Two of each, they are perfect to round up the meal with a nice espresso.

The one concept that pervades
at The Ravenous Pig is that nothing
is left to chance. Even in the
bathrooms, the cozy decorations are detailed and unique. Where else could one find a copper water can
in the shape of a pig?

Apart from the
food, this was hands down my favorite feature, because it shows the dedication
and passion put into this place.

If planning on
going, be aware that the menu changes with the seasons, and new experiences
keep coming up all the time. Also, if
going on a Friday or Saturday, reservations are de rigueur at least 3
weeks in advance.

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About Me

I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and lived there during the first twenty years of my life. I've been living in the Sunshine State for over twenty years now, most recently in Orlando - the city of Disney.
I'm a Political Scientist and have traveled extensively as the true Saggitarian that I am. I love to experience new cultures through food and customs. In this blog, I aim to invite you to slow down and enjoy the pleasures of life in order to become the perfect, non-desperate hostess - mainly good food, wine, travel, great literature and entertainment with the people that matter to us. This is a blog about debauchery, so if you are not interested in self-indulgence, you might have to look elsewhere.
As far as my personal interests go, I have a sponge-like mind and absorb as much from the world around me as I can. I am mostly interested in everything French, the country's history, cuisine and traditions.
This blog is about dreams, projects and passions. Mine just as much as yours. I review products and places, and test recipes. I invite you to peruse and indulge...